BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA
In 2010, the assistant general manager and head of strategic development at Lebanon's BLC Bank attended the annual summit of the Global Banking Alliance for Women, a leading organization of financial institutions that drove the creation of women's wealth worldwide. On her return to Beirut, she encouraged her bank to capitalize on the inclusion of women as a relevant differentiator from both a business and societal perspective. The result of research into the economic, demographic and social needs of the country was the launch in 2012 of the "We Initiative", a unique and comprehensive program dedicated to the economic empowerment of women in the Middle East and North Africa region. By 2015, the program's success not only served the bank's economic bottom line but also benefited the Lebanese economy and community as a whole and exemplified the bank's sense of responsibility to its society. Farah Matar is affiliated with American University of Beirut. Dima Jamali is affiliated with American University of Beirut.
Authors :: Farah Matar, Dima Jamali
Topics :: Global Business
Tags :: Gender, International business, Social responsibility, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA" written by Farah Matar, Dima Jamali includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Blc Beirut facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Gender, International business, Social responsibility and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, technology disruption,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Blc Beirut, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Blc Beirut operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Blc Beirut
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Global Business field.
4. Making a Global Business topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Blc Beirut
Strengths BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Blc Beirut in BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Organizational Resilience of Blc Beirut
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Blc Beirut does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Blc Beirut is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Blc Beirut is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Blc Beirut is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Farah Matar, Dima Jamali can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Blc Beirut in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Blc Beirut is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Blc Beirut in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Blc Beirut has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Blc Beirut is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Blc Beirut in the sector have low bargaining power. BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Blc Beirut to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Blc Beirut is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Blc Beirut is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Blc Beirut has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Weaknesses BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Blc Beirut, firm in the HBR case study BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA, it seems that the employees of Blc Beirut don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Global Business strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Blc Beirut has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Farah Matar, Dima Jamali suggests that, Blc Beirut is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Blc Beirut has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Blc Beirut has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Blc Beirut has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Blc Beirut supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Blc Beirut vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Blc Beirut products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Blc Beirut needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Blc Beirut is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Blc Beirut needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Blc Beirut to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Blc Beirut can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Blc Beirut to increase its market reach. Blc Beirut will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Blc Beirut has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Blc Beirut to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA case study. Blc Beirut can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Blc Beirut can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Global Business segment.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Blc Beirut to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Blc Beirut to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Blc Beirut can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Blc Beirut has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Blc Beirut to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Blc Beirut to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Developing new processes and practices
– Blc Beirut can develop new processes and procedures in Global Business industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Blc Beirut is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Blc Beirut can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Blc Beirut can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Blc Beirut in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Global Business segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA are -
Regulatory challenges
– Blc Beirut needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Global Business industry regulations.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Blc Beirut can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Blc Beirut needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Blc Beirut needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Blc Beirut can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Blc Beirut high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Blc Beirut in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Blc Beirut will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA, Blc Beirut may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Global Business .
Increasing wage structure of Blc Beirut
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Blc Beirut.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Blc Beirut demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Global Business field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Blc Beirut can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Blc Beirut business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of BLC Bank and the Quest for Women's Empowerment in MENA is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Blc Beirut needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
